Thousands have their say on health

MORE than 5,000 residents have spoken up about future health services in Rochdale. Members of the public were given the chance to comment on proposals for the next five years and help determine how £330M of government funding will be spent. Health chiefs from NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale were delighted that so many adults took part in the ‘Speak Up! It’s Your Health’ consultation, which ended earlier in the month.

MORE than 5,000 residents have spoken up about future health services in Rochdale.

Members of the public were given the chance to comment on proposals for the next five years and help determine how £330M of government funding will be spent.

Health chiefs from NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale were delighted that so many adults took part in the ‘Speak Up! It’s Your Health’ consultation, which ended earlier in the month.

Four public events were held to promote the campaign and more than 300 face-to-face interviews were carried out. Thirty residents also gave their feedback through a ‘Big Brother’ video diary room.

The programme aims to improve the well-being of residents and increase life expectancy levels, as well as developing more dental services, ensuring higher quality hospital care and improving mental health provisions.

Denise Dawson, the patient experience manager, said: “This is a tremendous response and I’d like to thank the people of Rochdale for taking the time to give us their opinions.

“We really want to ensure our plans reflect the views and opinions of our local population and to develop our services in line with what patients are telling us.

“All the feedback we have received is currently being processed and analysed, this information will then be used to influence our future plans. We will be reporting back to you very soon with a summary of the feedback.”